Bag-holding cabinet.



PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.'

A. S. HENDERSON. BAG HOLDING CABINET. P LIG I LED APR.16, 1903 i 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

PATENTQED MAR. 22, 1904 A. S; HENDERSON. .BAG, HOLDING CABINET.

AP'PLIOATION FILED APR. 16. 1903.

2 SHBETSBHEET 2;

N0 MODEL.

attain Patented March 22, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR S. HENDERSON,

HALF TO J. B. MALCOMB,

OF LOUDON, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE:

OF LOUDON, TENNESSEE.

BAG-HOLDING CABINET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,001, dated March 22, 1904.

Application filed April 16', 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR S. HENDERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Loudon, in the county of London and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bag-Holding Cabinets; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to cabinets or cases for holding paper bags in compact order and so that they can be readily withdrawn one at a time as they are needed for use.

The principal objects. are, first, to provide a simple and convenient cabinet of this character having one or more bag-compartments into which the bags can be quickly and easily placed or removed and which is adapted for ready access to the bottom or intermediate bags of a pile in case one of them becomes caught, twisted, or torn in extracting it, and, second, to provide the bag compartment or compartments with improved means for extracting the bags one at a time without liability of tearing them and without liability of removing more than one bag at a time.

The invention will hereinafter be first fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the annexed claims.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section thereof through one of the bag-compartments, show-' ing in dotted lines the front and cover raised. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the cabinet with the top raised and the bags and weights which hold down the open ends of the latter removed, said top being partly broken away. Fig. 4: is a detail perspective view of the bag-extracting device, and Fig. 5 is a side view of a paper bag as ordinarily folded for packing.

As well known, the bottom of an ordinary paper bag when opened is a parallelogram; but the manufacturers in order to pack the I I bags in small space for shipment and storage Serial No. 152,893. (No we.)

fold the bottoms of the. bags back on the bodies thereof, as illustrated in Fig. 5, and in such condition the bags are delivered to grocers, merchants, and others for use.

My improved cabinet or casing may comprise suitable side members A, aback member B, a raised bottom C, a lower front member or strip D, closing at the front the space beneath said raised bottom, a top member E, hinged to the upper edge or part of theback member, and a front member F, depending from and hinged to the front part of said top member, and closing at the front the space above sai bottom O. The top Ecan thus be raised and swung back, carrying with it the hinged front F, which will swing back against the lower side of said top, as indicated b-y'dotted lines in Fig. 2. The weight of the top and front keeps them down and in place, though any suitable means may be employed for this purpose, if desired. \Vhen the top is down, the lower edge of the front member is slightly raised above the bottom C or separated from the upper edge of the lower front strip D, thus leaving a horizontal slot or slots through which the bags can be withdrawn in the manner hereinafter explained. V

' The upper space of the cabinet may be divided by a series of transverse partitions G into a number of separate compartments of different widths to accommodate bags of different sizes, and said compartments may be of different lengths or provided with suitablydisposed backs H to suit bags. The bags are placed in their respective compartments one upon another, with their bottom folds disposed at the front of the cab inet and all facing downward, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. The

lower front strip or;

the lengths of the member D is shown having shortprojections on its upper edge, coinciding with and of the same width as the partitions G, and the front F when down rests on said projections, thiis avoiding unnecessary strain on its hinges, while also a flat unbroken front is given to the cabinet, except for the aforesaid slots between the adjacent edges of members D and F, which slots are thus of equal widths with the several bag-compartments.

In each compartment of the cabinet a longitudinal slot is provided in the front part of the bottom, and in said slot works a slide J, carried by a rod K, the front part of which rod extends through a suitable guide-opening therefor in the front strip D and has a knob or handle for pulling the slide forward, while the rear part of said rod extends through a guide-opening in a vertical member L, located in the bottom space of the cabinet behind the slide. Said slide is normally spring-held in its rearmost position, which, as shown, may be accomplished by a coiled spring applied to the rear end of the rod K, or said spring could be applied to the front end, or other means could be substituted. The top of the slide is preferably flush with the upper surface of the bottom C, thus preventing the front parts of the bags from sagging into the slot.

Each slide carries a projection or extracting device M, extending slightly above the bottom 0 and adapted to engage the fold of a bag when the slide is drawn forward. When the slide is at its real-most position, said extracting device M stands behind the folds of the bags; but when the slide is drawn forward by means of the pull-rod said device engages or catches the downwardly-facing fold of the lowermost bag of the pile and pulls the bag out through the lower horizontal slot in the front of the compartment. As soon as the rod is released the slide will go back, and the extractor is thus always in position to engage a bag. Obviously the device can engage only the lowermost bag, since it is separated by the body of said lowermost bag from the one immediately above it. The said extracting device may be of suitable form; but preferably I employ a flat piece of metal or other material folded or doubled so as to embrace the fold in the bag and of considerable width, particularly at its rear bent end, so as to avoid tearing the bags. N ormallysaid device stands immediately behind the folds of the lowermost bag, and as the slide is pulled forward it incloses the fold and engages the rear outer edge thereof, (marked m in Fig. 5.) no danger of tearing the bag, such as exists in certain prior devices of the present character having extracting-fingers which engage the inner part of the fold, (marked 1 in Fig. 5.) Moreover, avery slight motion of the slide is suflicient to move the bag out through the slot .in the front of the cabinet, when it can easily be taken hold of by hand, and thus a lesser travel of the slide is required than in said devices in which the bags are engaged for removal at the inner parts of the folds, especially where the bags are of large size, since the distance between the inner and outer edges of the fold may be several inches. It will also be observed that the weight of the entire pile of bags whereas the bags rests principally on the bottom C, in many prior devices of this nature rest principally on the extractor- Hence there is ment may be impaled on an upright wire or present arrangement is an obvious rod P, the lower end of which is secured to a removable block 0, fitted in a suitable recess in the rear of the bag-compartment, which may be'formed between a fixed block N and the back H. As well known, in the manufacture of paper bags small holes are punched near their mouths, and these holes may be slipped over the wire, or the bags may simply be punched by the wire. When one of the compartments is to be filled with bags, the block 0, with its wire, is withdrawn. The bags are then impaled on the wire, and the block, wire, and bags may then be placed in the compartment, the block O fitting in its proper Pecess. A weight Q, having a small hole for the wire to pass through, may be applied to the upper end of the wire to keep the rear end of the pile of bags pressed down. When the bottom bag of the pile is extracted, the wire will tear out of the paper, but the other bags will be held in place.

I thus provide an exceedingly simple and convenient cabinet whereby a merchant may keep his paper bags stored compactly free from dust and other damaging elements and can readily withdraw one bag at a time without disturbing the pile of bags or removing more bags than necessary, thus avoiding the .expensive waste due to careless handling by clerks and others of bags as ordinarily arranged.

When the top of the cabinet is raised, the front goes with it, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig, 2, thus exposing the entire interior and affording easy facility for removal or insertion of the piles of bags. ready access to the lowermost bag in case it becomes twisted, torn, or caught in extracting it. Should a bag inadvertently be placed in a compartment with its fold facing upward, so that it would not be engaged by the extractor, then it would ordinarily be necessary to remove the entire pile of bags; but with my cabinet it is simply necessary to raise the top a little, which lifts the front, and then the bag can be removed by hand without disturbing the others.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

l. A cabinet of the character described hav- This also affords ing one or more bag-compartments, said cabinet consisting of suitable side, bottom and back members, a top hinged to the back member, and a front hinged to said top, the lower edge of said front when down being slightly above the bottom, thus leaving a horizontal slot between said lower edge and bottom, and an extractor at the bottom of the cabinet adapted to engage the lowermost of a pile of bags within a compartment and withdraw it through said slot between said front and bottom.

2. A cabinet of the character described having one or more bag-compartments, in which the bags are placed one upon another with their bottom folds at the front and all facing downward, said cabinet consisting of suitable side and back members, a raised bottom, a top hinged to the back, and a front hinged to the top, the lower edge of said front when down being slightly above the bottom, thus leaving a horizontal slot between said lower edge and bottom, each bag compartment or receptacle of the cabinet having a longitudinal slot in its bottom, a slide in said slot carrying an extractor which when the slide is moved forward engages the fold of the lowermost bag of the pile and withdraws said bag through said horizontal lower slot at the front, and means for manipulating said slide.

3. A bag-holder comprising a receptacle, in which the bags are designed to be placed one upon another with their bottom folds at the front end and all facing downward, a horizontal-slot at the front of said receptacle immediately above the bottom thereof, a central longitudinal slot in the bottom of said receptacle, a slide working in said latter slot having 'a wide projection normally standing slightly folds of the bags and behind said bottom adapted when the slide is moved forward to engage the fold of the lowermost bag and withdraw the bag through said front horizontal slot, and means for manipulating said slide.

4:. A bag-holder comprising a receptacle, in which the bags are designed to be placed one upon another with their bottom folds at the front end and all facing downward, a horizonedge,

tal slot at the front of said receptacle immediately above the bottom thereof, a longitudinal slot in the front part of the bottom of said receptacle, a pull-rod below the bottom spring actuated rearward, and means projecting from said rod through said longitudinal slot carrying an extractor, the latter consisting of a doubled or folded plate disposed flatwise on the bottom and adapted when the rod is pulled forward to engage the fold of the lowermost bag.

5. A bag-holder comprising a receptacle, in which the bags are designed to be placed one upon another with their bottom folds at the front and all facing downward, said receptacle having an elevated bottom, a horizontal slot in the front thereof immediately above said bottom, a longitudinal slot in the front part of said bottom, a slide working in said latter slot,

and a wide flat doubled or folded plate carried by said slide adapted when the slide moves forward to embrace the fold and engage its rear front slot of the receptacle, and means for ma nipulating said slide.

6. In combination with a receptacle having a lower front slot, and an extractor for withdrawing the lowermost bag of a pile through said slot, a block removably fitted in the rear of said receptacle and having a wire secured thereto on which the rear ends of the bags are impaled. I

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR S; HENDERSON.

Witnesses:

J OE H. KoLLooK, W. G. GREEN.

thus moving the bag out through the i 

